Raven's Strike (Raven #2)(22)

It was, she thought, unlikely that the Shadowed was someone she knew from the village. She put thoughts of the Shadowed aside for another time, when she was less tired.

Tier's voice wavered when he saw her, and he fell silent, stopping the strings of the lute with his hand. After a few beats Ciro stopped, too.

"Is something wrong?" Ciro asked.

Tier shook his head, but kept his eyes on Seraph. "I'm just tired tonight. I'll leave the music to you for now."

"If Karadoc has our bed, we'll need to look for somewhere else to sleep," murmured Seraph, so she wouldn't interfere with Ciro's music. She bent down to touch Rinnie's face, then looked up into Tier's. Even in the dark, he looked pale and drawn - his knees must be hurting him.

"Somewhere private," agreed Tier. "But the house is full."

Seraph took a good look at the sky, but the storm had passed by. "I might be able to come up with something. Lehr, can you find our bedrolls and my pack? And make certain you, Hennea, Jes, and Rinnie have someplace to sleep."

He nodded. "I'll be right back."

He was as good as his word and handed Seraph both bedrolls before Ciro had finished his second solo piece.

"Rinnie still has her bed in the house, I'll carry her in," Lehr kept his voice soft, though Ciro was between songs. "The rest of us now have claim to space in the barn. Do you need more help, Papa?"

Tier levered himself to his feet and shook his head. "As long as we're not going too far, I'll be fine."

Seraph nodded to Lehr and bent to kiss the top of Rinnie's head. "I'll see you in the morning," she told her son.

She led Tier behind the house where the land rose to a narrow flat shelf of meadow that was surrounded by short trees and bushes. Tier was limping badly, Seraph winced inwardly with him at every step.

She set the bedrolls on top of a rock where they shouldn't get too wet, but stopped him when he bent to unroll his. "No. Wait a moment, and I'll have something better for us."

She set down her pack and took out the bag that held her mermori. Sorting quickly, she found Isolde's mermora and sank the sharp end into the ground. She stepped back and murmured the words that would call the ancient house of Isolde the Silent.

There was a pause, as the magic organized itself. She could feel the familiar weave of Hinnum's spells unfolding as they remembered the pattern of Isolde's dwelling, rebuilding rooms long since rotted by time. She felt as much as saw the house re-form in the shelter of the woods behind her house.

Isolde's had not been among the larger dwellings belonging to the Colossae wizards, though it was bigger than the house Tier had built Seraph. The front of Isolde's house was designed to please the eye, covered with decorative brickwork. The sides were flat and plain - so flat that Seraph was certain it had shared walls with neighboring houses rather than standing free. The contrast between gracious facade and flat sides made it look a little odd, especially standing alone in the woods instead of on a busy city street.

"We can sleep here tonight," she said.

"I thought you didn't do that," said Tier, though he followed her up the front stairs and through the ebony door.

"It can be dangerous," she said, though most of her attention was on her husband's slow progress. "This is an illusion - a very good illusion - but if the weather is unpleasant, you can freeze to death without ever knowing it. But the rain has stopped, and we'll use our own blankets for warmth."

"So why didn't we use it to sleep in while we were on the trail home?" Tier asked.

"Magic, any magic, tends to attract the attention of a variety of nasty creatures that I'd rather not wake up to," Seraph answered, moving a chair that Tier might have had to step around. "And the illusion is good enough you can't hear if anything comes prowling. Tonight - well, there was enough magic here to call anything looking for it, so Isolde's house isn't going to make any difference. With my wardings fresh, I don't think there's much that'll get through. We'll be safe and private here."

The house was lit with small lanterns. Tier limped behind her through the sitting room and into the smallest of the bedrooms. There was less personality here than in the other bedrooms. Seraph had always assumed it was a guest room, and felt more comfortable in it, less an interloper and more a guest.

"It seems wrong to put these dirty blankets on that bed," Tier said.

She could see his point, the bedding was pristine white. "It's all right. The dirt won't be there next time the mermora is called."

Tier shook his head, but he loosened the tie on his blankets and unrolled them on the bed. Seraph could see that more than his knees were bothering him tonight.

"You're hurting," she said. "Strip down and let me see."

It was a mark of how tired he really was that he followed her brisk commands without a word of teasing. She turned up the light on the bedside table so she could see better.

He moved slowly and she saw, in addition to the new damage to his healing knees, his left shoulder was hurt. When he was finished she walked around him once to assess the damage with an eye educated by three children who climbed trees and barns and other things more suited to birds than humans.

"Nothing a few days' rest and a good hot bath won't fix," she said at last with relief. No matter what Lehr had said, Tier's obvious soreness had worried her. "Lie down, and I'll see what I can do," she said.